Hi all,

I am very new to CC and this is also my first post
I was wondering if anyone out there could possibly help me?

I have been asked to take some samples of my cupcakes into a local coffee shop with a view to becoming a supplier but the owner would prefer something with a shelf life of 4 days minimum. He has a fridge & chilled counter and is open 7 days a week. I'm just wondering whether I would need to add anything to my normal cakes (flavoured sponges and buttercream icing - occasional fillings) to keep them fresher or will the chilled counter do that for me (or worse - dry them out??) I usually bake fresh to order so don't have to worry about them lasting longer than a couple of days (my customers have been known to polish off 6 in an afternoon lol). I would be VERY grateful for any help with this.

It would be a fantastic opportunity for me and will hopefully bring me more private customers too once they have tried one or two samples

Thanks in advance for any advice

Nicola

I highly doubt any cupcake will taste fresh after a couple of days in a refrigerated case. Do shelf life testing on your cupcakes - leave them unwrapped in the fridge and taste after four days.

Refrigerators are very dry. They have bad effects on cake.

However, I was considering this the other day in a similar question. If your cupcakes do not have significant domes. you could flood the tops with either ganache or pourable fondant. When that firmed up, you could frost as usual. It would greatly limit exposure to the air and all but eliminate drying of the cupcake. I'd bet you'd get 4 days easy that way. I would try it.

There's a problem with any dessert sitting unprotected in a refrigerated case. As the air circulates, unwrapped food picks up off-flavors. So it's the icing that is affected also. Some high-end display cases found in upscale bakeries are designed with this air-flow issue. But many coffeeshops, delis, and diners focus on serving meal-type foods and don't put as much attention on desserts. Cupcakes can sit for a day in this environment without too much trouble, but several days might be a problem. If the OP wants to pursue this account, I suggest making more frequent deliveries. It may pay off in the long run.

The vendor's request for shelf life may be his worst-case estimate of his traffic. Not quite a delivery issue...

Adding a little syrup to the cupcakes before the icing will add an extra day as well as some flavour. This might be the way to win this high-end account.

Then you might deliver them in sealed tupperware that would be returned to be refilled. You can use the dome bottoms inside for stability.

These would sit in the vendor's back fridge with only a plateful in his display case. I am sure that the vendor will be grateful for this delivery-container option.

Thank you all for your responses

Mimifix - I understand exactly what you mean - I don't even think I would like to try one that's been in a fridge for 4 days Cakes never last very long in my house (with 3 kids and a hubby with a sweet tooth, I always have to make extras if I have an order) but I never keep them in the fridge - just a sealed tub on the counter. From what I can gather, the chiller they will be in only has desserts (larger cakes/muffins) Extra deliveries would not be a problem, they are less than 3 miles away from me and my hubby actually works next door so he could always do a few if needed It's just that the owner was the one to say that he would like it if they would last 4-5 days (assuming so that he won't have to throw any away on a slower week)

matthewkyrankelly - I was considering this but just with the buttercream - spreading it over to "seal" the top, and then doing the swirls/toppings etc just to make doubly sure there are no gaps that could lead to drying out.

BakingIrene - What a fantastic idea, I should have thought of a syrup before! I could do the syrup, and then the "sealed buttercream" mentioned above and that should work for an extra day maybe Am not sure about investing in the tupperware yet (the only cupcake couriers I can find are around £30 each, and I would need 2 really to make it viable) but we'll see what happens once he's sampled the ones I take in - I can't imagine orders will be huge to start with so don't really want to spend loads of money until I know if it's likely to be regular (at the moment I use the cardboard boxes,but obviously this will work out expensive in the long run)

Thank you all for your help, it's much appreciated and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can somehow work this out so that it comes through as regular orders can only be a good thing

Wish me luck!

Nicola

Not cupcake couriers. Just the large flat tubs. They stack well when empty, and they seal well.